The Knights Next Door

[The_Archivist]

2 hours ago, Sorana said:

Shana walked downstairs into the kitchen. She fetched cake for all of them, and then added a few more slices for everybody else who happened to be in the living room.

"This is obviously our kitchen." She told Everest and made a slight shrug. "Sometimes we cook together, that is usually a lot of fun. And edible as well, most of the time." She tried to pick up the plate with both hands and frowned when pain made her set it down quickly again. "I'm sorry. Could you maybe take it. We just got in this fight and that woman fired a gun pointed at me."

Annoyed by herself she bit on her lower lip, inhaling a little more stormlight to keep the pain at bay. It wasn't grave, she had been injured, really injured before, but it was exhausting. Every single battle ended with her injured, in need of help. It was wrong, so incredibly wrong. It was her place to protect to stand up for the others. She shouldn't bother them with her little aches here and there every now and then.

"Living room? And then we can talk more comfortably, I think."

@The_Archivist @Lunamor

"Sure." Why did Shana keep going like her injury was nothing? Not only was it obviously not true, but it didn't make any sense! They had a person who could heal her, a person she was obviously very close to, why didn't she ask him?

He picked up the plate with one hand and took a slice with the other and tried it. His eyes widened. That was good cake, probably the best chocolate cake he ever had. He took a mental note to ask Leona for a recipe when he had the chance. 

As he walked into the living room he exclaimed "There's cake if anyone wants it." And sat down on a sofa after setting the plate down on the coffee table.

[AonEne]

Quote

I’m going to say Cassie snuck upstairs and is now showering. 

 

[I think I am here.]

12 hours ago, Tesh said:

Ayalin gave a small smile. "That's... Not what I'm really worried about," she said quietly. "I'm Ayalin. Aya's fine, too." She shrugged. "It's just... People. I'm never quite sure what to do."

People. Rob nodded. “Tell me about it,” he said.

He listened to her next question with mild interest. He noticed her wince, though he wasn’t sure what it meant, exactly. Maybe he’d have to google it later, or ask Shana. Idly, he twiddled his thumbs, thinking about her question. Was it magic?

“Some people here call it magic,” he said slowly. “The ones that like those fantasy books about dark lords and magic rings and wands. I’ve never thought about us as magical, though. I think it’s really easy to fall into a superiority complex that way. Really easy to start thinking you’re somehow above ‘normal’ people, if that makes sense?”

He shrugged. “But I agree. For the first couple days, it’s surreal, for sure. But you’ll get used to it eventually.”

Edited April 23, 2020 by I think I am here.

[+Sorana]

13 hours ago, The_Archivist said:

"Sure." Why did Shana keep going like her injury was nothing? Not only was it obviously not true, but it didn't make any sense! They had a person who could heal her, a person she was obviously very close to, why didn't she ask him?

He picked up the plate with one hand and took a slice with the other and tried it. His eyes widened. That was good cake, probably the best chocolate cake he ever had. He took a mental note to ask Leona for a recipe when he had the chance. 

As he walked into the living room he exclaimed "There's cake if anyone wants it." And sat down on a sofa after setting the plate down on the coffee table.

Shana sat down on the sofa next to his. She used a long piece of cloth and wrapped her arm, the last thing she wanted was to ruin the cushions. "Sorry." She smiled wryly at Everest, "today was weird." With a sigh she took a piece of cake and bit into it. Delicious, as always. Without Leona, the world would be a place with a lot more grey in it.

"Okay, so some background information." She thought about it for a moment, wondered where it was best to start.

"I moved into this house years ago. There were always younger people with - special abilities here, mostly Knights Radiant. Fewer, but over the time more came, others went-" she made a vague gesture. "As I mentioned before most have some kind of troubled past, so this place is a little like a sanctuary to many of us. It most certainly is for me. Nobody looks at you weirdly when you practice a surge, or when you talk to an invisible spren."

Eating more cake she made a short pause to swallow. "There have always been reports of Voidbringers, of people working against us, and now and then there was a fight -" she pointed at her cloths, "not everybody, but some of us are trained to use weapons to fight as well." A shadow crept over her face at her own words and she swallowed set her half eaten cake aside.

"The last weeks have been pretty intense. They discovered our house, obviously know where we live, we even had one fight here, outside of the house. Today we planned to add some security installments, to be warned should they come again." A thought crossed her mind and she switched topic.

"Do you know how to interrogate someone? We still have a Voidbringer here, but nobody found the time to deal with them so far."

Edited April 23, 2020 by Sorana
got some timeline wrong, sorry!

[The_Archivist]

1 hour ago, Sorana said:

Shana sat down on the sofa next to his. She used a long piece of cloth and wrapped her arm, the last thing she wanted was to ruin the cushions. "Sorry." She smiled wryly at Everest, "today was weird." With a sigh she took a piece of cake and bit into it. Delicious, as always. Without Leona, the world would be a place with a lot more grey in it.

"Okay, so some background information." She thought about it for a moment, wondered where it was best to start.

"I moved into this house years ago. There were always younger people with - special abilities here, mostly Knights Radiant. Fewer, but over the time more came, others went-" she made a vague gesture. "As I mentioned before most have some kind of troubled past, so this place is a little like a sanctuary to many of us. It most certainly is for me. Nobody looks at you weirdly when you practice a surge, or when you talk to an invisible spren."

Eating more cake she made a short pause to swallow. "There have always been reports of Voidbringers, of people working against us, and now and then there was a fight -" she pointed at her cloths, "not everybody, but some of us are trained to use weapons to fight as well." A shadow crept over her face at her own words and she swallowed set her half eaten cake aside.

"The last weeks have been pretty intense. They discovered our house, obviously know where we live, we even had one fight here, outside of the house. Afterwards we added some security installments, to be warned should they come again." A thought crossed her mind and she switched topic.

"Do you know how to interrogate someone? We still have a Voidbringer here, but nobody found the time to deal with them so far."

Everest was relieved when Shana bandaged her arm. A person could bleed out like that if they weren't careful.He had to resist the urge to squirm when she mentioned invisible spren, his eyes darting around the room in a futile attempt to find it. 

And then she said there was a voidbringer here. The mask slipped, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping open. However, he quickly took control again and spoke with a calmness he didn't have. "I've memorised a book about it. And several books about detecting lies. So you could say that. But before I can interrogate him I need to ask you some questions. Do you know if he's of high rank? How long has he been captive here? Did you feed him during that time?" He slowed down for the last question, "Most importantly, how far are you willing to go to get the information you want?"

[+Sorana]

3 minutes ago, The_Archivist said:

Everest was relieved when Shana bandaged her arm. A person could bleed out like that if they weren't careful.He had to resist the urge to squirm when she mentioned invisible spren, his eyes darting around the room in a futile attempt to find it. 

And then she said there was a voidbringer here. The mask slipped, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping open. However, he quickly took control again and spoke with a calmness he didn't have. "I've memorised a book about it. And several books about detecting lies. So you could say that. But before I can interrogate him I need to ask you some questions. Do you know if he's of high rank? How long has he been captive here? Did you feed him during that time?" He slowed down for the last question, "Most importantly, how far are you willing to go to get the information you want?"

"The spren won't hurt you." Shana tried to calm him, when she noticed him looking around nervously as soon as she mentioned them. "They can't hurt you. Most of them can't even interact with the world at all, apart from lifting a small leaf or something like that."

Considering his questions she leaned back a little. "He hasn't been here for long. Two days at most, and yes of course we took care of him. I have no idea regarding his rank, like I said we didn't question him so far." Her fingers opened and closed as if reaching for a weapon. "He interrupted the wedding of one of us. We had something else to do afterwards, tried to give the two of them at least something that resembled a celebration."

At his last question she looked at him for a long moment, calm and sure of herself. "I swore to protect those that can't protect themselves. And they are hurting innocents, they try to kill my friends and family. If Rob hadn't encased him in stone, he wouldn't have lived to see another day. But what you shouldn't forget - they are human. And with everything we do - in the end we have to ask ourselves, if we are still doing the right thing. The moment we act like they do, the moment we hurt innocents - that is the moment when I think we should lay down our weapons and just stop."

Getting to her feet she walked to the side, fetched one of the weapons she had hidden on several places. It was too long to be carried on her body all the time, but it felt good to have one close. Pensively she looked at him, waited for his reaction.

[Lunamor]

8 hours ago, Sorana said:

She knew, that he hadn't spoken out of fear to disturb the conversation, although she failed to see why he would do that. Everest had greeted him after all. He wouldn't have done that, if he didn't want to speak with him.

Quote

*slaps forehead*

The thing with having poor social skills is that all of your characters tend to inherit them. I hadn't even realized that it was Ben that Everest was speaking to, but reading it over now it's really obvious 

 

23 hours ago, Sorana said:

Mahad wrapped himself around Ben's arm, tried to see Glint. "Do you want to play?" he asked the other spren, resting his head on Ben's forearm. "We could see if we can find some birds."

"Maybe we can find some talking birds. Ben showed me a video- some birds have little voices that sound really squeaky. I wanna hear one." Glint slide off of Ben's shoulder and did the spren equivalent of balancing on Mahad's head. "I think that there were some talkative looking birds in the tree closest to the end of the yard, earlier."

=========================

Ben grabbed a plate of cake from the kitchen, following them to the couch. He sat down next to Shana and noticed that she had wrapped an improvised bandage around the wound. Was that so no blood would drip on the couch? It worried him that she only treated her wound because it was causing an inconvenience and not because of how much blood she was losing. He carefully unwrapped the cloth, trying to avoid making the cut hurt any worse. If the fabric got caught in the closing wound it would just cause more problems. He placed a hand just above the wound and inhaled a breath of stormlight, immediately using it to heal Shana. Hopefully it wouldn't make her too tired. She had been healed from far worse injuries before and been fine, but he couldn't help but worry a little.

The things that Everest said about the interrogation were unnerving. How far were they willing to go to get information? Were they just supposed to decide as a collective how many bones they would be willing to break to get what they wanted? He hated the idea of hurting the prisoner. They had killed people like the before, but it just seemed more personal this way. He was glad Shana agreed with him, but was unsure if everyone else would feel the same way. The way Everest talked, it seemed like he didn't. He suddenly had an idea. 

"Hey, before any of the interrogation stuff starts, can I take a look at the prisoner? I want to try something."   

[The_Archivist]

22 minutes ago, Sorana said:

"The spren won't hurt you." Shana tried to calm him, when she noticed him looking around nervously as soon as she mentioned them. "They can't hurt you. Most of them can't even interact with the world at all, apart from lifting a small leaf or something like that."

Considering his questions she leaned back a little. "He hasn't been here for long. Two days at most, and yes of course we took care of him. I have no idea regarding his rank, like I said we didn't question him so far." Her fingers opened and closed as if reaching for a weapon. "He interrupted the wedding of one of us. We had something else to do afterwards, tried to give the two of them at least something that resembled a celebration."

At his last question she looked at him for a long moment, calm and sure of herself. "I swore to protect those that can't protect themselves. And they are hurting innocents, they try to kill my friends and family. If Rob hadn't encased him in stone, he wouldn't have lived to see another day. But what you shouldn't forget - they are human. And with everything we do - in the end we have to ask ourselves, if we are still doing the right thing. The moment we act like they do, the moment we hurt innocents - that is the moment when I think we should lay down our weapons and just stop."

Getting to her feet she walked to the side, fetched one of the weapons she had hidden on several places. It was too long to be carried on her body all the time, but it felt good to have one close. Pensively she looked at him, waited for his reaction.

It's not what they can do, he thought sullenly it's what they can see.

Everest rubbed his face tiredly. "More questions than answers, as is the way of the world." He raised his head to look at her again, "You're right of course, we shouldn't hurt them unless we have no other choice. And even then not without thinking about it long and hard. Until then we should do nothing more than intimidation."

As Ben spoke he realised he may have given off the wrong image. He wasn't willing to torture them. Probably. Maybe. He still hadn't figured it out. And of course it was good they remembered to give him food, it would just have been more convenient if they forgot. "Of course, he's your prisoner, and if it works, all the better."

Quote

This is probably obvious, but I just wanted to make it clear Everest's opinions are not necessarily my own.

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by The_Archivist

[+Sorana]

34 minutes ago, Lunamor said:

"Maybe we can find some talking birds. Ben showed me a video- some birds have little voices that sound really squeaky. I wanna hear one." Glint slide off of Ben's shoulder and did the spren equivalent of balancing on Mahad's head. "I think that there were some talkative looking birds in the tree closest to the end of the yard, earlier."

Mahad happliy let Ben walk downstairs, instead he stayed with Glint. "That sounds awesome!" he agreed. Talkative birds sounded incredible. "Do you think we can teach them something?" He asekd excitedly and gently lifted a wing to immitate touching the other spren.

=================

Shana relaxed when Ben healed to wound on her, gratefully reached for his hand and gave it a slight squeeze. It felt good to be able to move her shoulder and arm without it hurting. "Thank you." she smiled at him, amazed again by him calm gentleness. He was brilliant. And if he had a way to get some answers out of the Voidbringer, it could only benefit them all. She had drawn enough blood for one day.

"I suppose we head over to him, and see if he is willing to talk." She suggested and lifted her weapon. "And should he try something, I will stand in his way." It wasn't a question, nothing but a plain and simple fact. "Good thing, I didn't shower yet." she remarked, partially honestly relieved that she wouldn't have to clean up a second set of cloths. Partially it might help the intimidating part. Or maybe it wouldn't, she wasn't entirely sure. But no matter what, it had at least a huge chance to reduce the time she spent washing blood out of her cloths and that was a huge plus.

"Let's go, are you two ready? Ben first, and if it doesn't work, we go with intimidating. If that doesn't work, we can make a break discuss how to go on."

@Lunamor @The_Archivist

[Tesh]

6 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

People. Rob nodded. “Tell me about it,” he said.

He listened to her next question with mild interest. He noticed her wince, though he wasn’t sure what it meant, exactly. Maybe he’d have to google it later, or ask Shana. Idly, he twiddled his thumbs, thinking about her question. Was it magic?

“Some people here call it magic,” he said slowly. “The ones that like those fantasy books about dark lords and magic rings and wands. I’ve never thought about us as magical, though. I think it’s really easy to fall into a superiority complex that way. Really easy to start thinking you’re somehow above ‘normal’ people, if that makes sense?”

He shrugged. “But I agree. For the first couple days, it’s surreal, for sure. But you’ll get used to it eventually.”

Ayalin looked down at the cat in her lap. It seemed completely unaffected by everything. "Do you think it'd be alright if I stuck around?" She asked hesitantly. "I mean, I don't want to be a bother, but... It'd be nice."

[I think I am here.]

17 minutes ago, Tesh said:

Ayalin looked down at the cat in her lap. It seemed completely unaffected by everything. "Do you think it'd be alright if I stuck around?" She asked hesitantly. "I mean, I don't want to be a bother, but... It'd be nice."

Rob cast a glance towards the cat, and then back to Aya.

“You’re definitely welcome to stay here,” Rob said. He wondered whether Aya had any home elsewhere, whether he was like the many Radiants who’d run away nd found refuge here. Or maybe she’d chosen to come here. Rob wasn’t going to ask. If he asked about her, then she’d ask about him.

“And you won’t bother anyone. We even some vacant rooms.”

Edited April 23, 2020 by I think I am here.

[The_Archivist]

22 minutes ago, Sorana said:

Mahad happliy let Ben walk downstairs, instead he stayed with Glint. "That sounds awesome!" he agreed. Talkative birds sounded incredible. "Do you think we can teach them something?" He asekd excitedly and gently lifted a wing to immitate touching the other spren.

=================

Shana relaxed when Ben healed to wound on her, gratefully reached for his hand and gave it a slight squeeze. It felt good to be able to move her shoulder and arm without it hurting. "Thank you." she smiled at him, amazed again by him calm gentleness. He was brilliant. And if he had a way to get some answers out of the Voidbringer, it could only benefit them all. She had drawn enough blood for one day.

"I suppose we head over to him, and see if he is willing to talk." She suggested and lifted her weapon. "And should he try something, I will stand in his way." It wasn't a question, nothing but a plain and simple fact. "Good thing, I didn't shower yet." she remarked, partially honestly relieved that she wouldn't have to clean up a second set of cloths. Partially it might help the intimidating part. Or maybe it wouldn't, she wasn't entirely sure. But no matter what, it had at least a huge chance to reduce the time she spent washing blood out of her cloths and that was a huge plus.

"Let's go, are you two ready? Ben first, and if it doesn't work, we go with intimidating. If that doesn't work, we can make a break discuss how to go on."

@Lunamor @The_Archivist

Everest nodded, "All right then, let's get some answers."

[Tesh]

Quote

*cough* Ignore this, please...

Ayalin noted Rob looking at the cat. She laughed quietly. "Do you want your cat back? 

"And it might take a day or two. The family I'm staying with won't mind in the long run, but they might resist a bit at the beginning." 

[AonEne]

Quote

Tesh, why do you have trouble deleting quote boxes again? 

 

[Tesh]

Quote

It doesn't let me on my Kindle. I don't know why, but it never has.

 

[I think I am here.]

8 minutes ago, Tesh said:

Ayalin noted Rob looking at the cat. She laughed quietly. "Do you want your cat back? 

"And it might take a day or two. The family I'm staying with won't mind in the long run, but they might resist a bit at the beginning." 

Family she’s staying with? So, not her real family? No use prying into personal matters, Rob thought, so he just nodded. When she laughed and offered him the cat he froze for a moment, suppressed the urge to say yes and pet the little cat, tried to hide his feelings underneath an impassive mask again. His father’s words were clear and resounding in his head: Emotion is weakness.

“Oh, it’s not my cat,” Rob said. “It’s all of ours, I guess. I don’t overly like cats, anyway.”

Edited April 23, 2020 by I think I am here.

[Tesh]

“Oh, it’s not my cat,” Rob said. “It’s all of ours, I guess. I don’t overly like cats, anyway.”

Ayalin tried not to show her relief. Animals were always so much easier to be around than people, and could seem almost instantly like a friend. 

"So, what can you do? Are you a... " What was the word? It has been a simple one, easy to remember... Blast. "I don't remember the word. Sorry."

[+Sorana]

24 minutes ago, The_Archivist said:

Everest nodded, "All right then, let's get some answers."

Shana took a last bite of her cake, feeling a bit sorry for leaving it behind half eaten. But this was important. If they managed to gain some intel on how they had found them, why they were trying to kill them, hopefully this would lead to an advantage in the upcoming fights.

She walked out of the living room and stepped outside, glad that they were finally doing something. That they were acting. It felt good, very good. Opening the door to the garage she paused for a moment, watched the Voidbringer they had imprisoned there. Walking inside she positioned herself close enough to him, to be ready should he try to do something, ready to react should he endager something. She had no idea if Everest could fight, but in the end, it didn't matter. She would start counting on his skills the moment she learned about them. Everything else was nothing but a nice bonus.

She kept quiet, left it to Ben to open the interrogation, to go through with whatever idea or plan he had.

@Lunamor @The_Archivist @xinoehp512

[I think I am here.]

12 minutes ago, Tesh said:

“So, what can you do? Are you a... " What was the word? It has been a simple one, easy to remember... Blast. "I don't remember the word. Sorry."

“Radiant?” Rob asked. “Yes, I am. A Stoneward, specifically. I can do weird things with rock. Sorry, that’s the best way I can explain it without any demonstration.” He stared at Aya for a moment longer, repeated her question in his head.

“So, I’d assume you aren’t a Radiant, then?” He asked.

[Bookish Ocelot]

Quote

I'm going to assume that the house has an ungodly number of bedrooms because *handwavery*

"Yeah there should be an open room on the second floor," Leona said. "Follow me."

@Channelknight Fadran

[xinoehp512]

4 hours ago, Sorana said:

Shana took a last bite of her cake, feeling a bit sorry for leaving it behind half eaten. But this was important. If they managed to gain some intel on how they had found them, why they were trying to kill them, hopefully this would lead to an advantage in the upcoming fights.

She walked out of the living room and stepped outside, glad that they were finally doing something. That they were acting. It felt good, very good. Opening the door to the garage she paused for a moment, watched the Voidbringer they had imprisoned there. Walking inside she positioned herself close enough to him, to be ready should he try to do something, ready to react should he endager something. She had no idea if Everest could fight, but in the end, it didn't matter. She would start counting on his skills the moment she learned about them. Everything else was nothing but a nice bonus.

She kept quiet, left it to Ben to open the interrogation, to go through with whatever idea or plan he had.

@Lunamor @The_Archivist @xinoehp512

Sheln looked up as the girl walked in. He narrowed his eyes slightly. What were they doing in here, he wondered?

[Tesh]

7 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

“So, I’d assume you aren’t a Radiant, then?” He asked.

 "Ah, no. They called me a mistborn. I can eat metals, then sort of burn them internally and different metals let me do different things. I can increase my endurance and strength, my senses, push and pull on metal, and mess with people's emotions a bit. Jamie told me I could do more, but I have no idea what." Ayalin shrugged. "How long have you been here?"

[The_Archivist]

9 hours ago, Sorana said:

Shana took a last bite of her cake, feeling a bit sorry for leaving it behind half eaten. But this was important. If they managed to gain some intel on how they had found them, why they were trying to kill them, hopefully this would lead to an advantage in the upcoming fights.

She walked out of the living room and stepped outside, glad that they were finally doing something. That they were acting. It felt good, very good. Opening the door to the garage she paused for a moment, watched the Voidbringer they had imprisoned there. Walking inside she positioned herself close enough to him, to be ready should he try to do something, ready to react should he endager something. She had no idea if Everest could fight, but in the end, it didn't matter. She would start counting on his skills the moment she learned about them. Everything else was nothing but a nice bonus.

She kept quiet, left it to Ben to open the interrogation, to go through with whatever idea or plan he had.

@Lunamor @The_Archivist @xinoehp512

Everest finished his slice of cake and followed Shana to the garage. They kept the voidbringer in the garage? Wasn't that awkward? I'm heading out to make a grocery run. I will kill you and anyone you care about. Bye now!

And then he entered, and saw the voidbringer. His whole body tensed, prepared for a fight. He knew the voidbringer was restrained, but it still went against every instinct he acquired over the last six months to not do something.

[Lunamor]

Ben walked inside the garage and made himself look at the Voidbringer. That person- could it still be considered a person?- was a part of something that had almost killed his friends, himself, so many times. He would murder every last person in the house if given the chance. Somehow he still felt bad for him. Having an evil spren inside of you must feel horrible. He didn't even know if the man had bonded with it willingly. He walked up to him, flinching when he looked up at him. Perhaps he could help him, break his spren bond. He knew that it was a foolish hope, that healing couldn't fix something like that, but he had least had to try. Placing a hand on his arm, he closed his eyes and pushed his stormlight into him. He was met with a wall of rotting darkness, so filled with anger and despair that he gasped. It hurt, feeling like a tainted fire burning. He battered his stormlight against it, but it did nothing. It just disappeared. He yanked his hand back, which now had a slight burn. His head hurt like crazy. He couldn't imagine having to feel something like that every single waking hour of his life. He wished that there was something else he could do to help, but he was out of options. Illusions could not help that. He walked back to Shana and Everest, expression downcast. "Go a little easy on him," he mumbled.

@The_Archivist

@Sorana

[Channelknight Fadran]

On 4/23/2020 at 6:25 AM, Bookish Ocelot said:

"Yeah there should be an open room on the second floor," Leona said. "Follow me."

@Channelknight Fadran

Fadran follows Leona, taking in the view of the household.